Hydrogen chloride!

[SealDriver]

Blimey I have just been handed a leaflet made by and handed out by a neighbour, the leaflet states that there has been an accident on the motorway in which a chemical tanker set fire and released Hydrogen chloride onto the road surface. This then found its way into the canal, river and field ditches.

I believe that on contact with water Hydrogen chloride turns into a very nasty acid.

I have heard nothing from the Environment Agency or Emergency Services about this and the accident happened at around 10:30 hrs this morning.

It just goes to show that in an emergency situation you can not rely on the 'Powers that be'.

We live close the the accident and due to the high water levels at present the river, canal and ditches are very close indeed to our homes.

It's not the end of the world, but still yet another example of what can and does happen in our safe and secure world.

[Highlander]

You clearly have a switched on neighbour,...I would enrole him, he seems the right sort....I hope you have your water stores full

[SealDriver]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...fumes.html

Apparently local residents were informed to stay in doors and keep their windows closed....but we were not!

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(12 December 2012, 19:58)Highlander Wrote: You clearly have a switched on neighbour,...I would enrole him, he seems the right sort....I hope you have your water stores full

I think I will Highlander, he is an absolute star and has gone out of his way to help the local community. More than can be said about the local Council, Environment Agency and Highways Agency. I do hope that all the canal boat people are okay as the water from off that stretch of motorway drains into the canal and there is a big marina very close by.

[Straight Shooter]

responce is bloody typical.....just imagine a big event......get used to the idea of your on your own....nobody is coming to help anyone

[BDG]

The article in the DM says it was carrying hydrochloride - this is a salt that is formed from hydrochloric acid. If I mix hydrochloric acid and the base (alkali) sodium hydroxide, I get NaCl - common salt and water.

The DM does not say which hydrochloride salt it was, but it being transported with paper makes me think it would be something like ethanolamine hydrochloride, used in printing or one of the hydrochloride salts used in paper manufacture.

Whilst they are not something I would sprinkle on my chips, they are not that bad.

If I were TPTB, I would have not widely publicised it in the local area - potential to create a scare where no should exist. I would have also said a salt used in XYZ industry rather than hydrochloride which has got minds jumping to conclusions.

If it had have been a tanker full of Hydrochloric acid and it found its way into the water, water creatures on a very local level would have died and the effect would have been very short lived. if anything, it would clean the water course a little.

[Metroyeti]

It took emergency services two hours to arrive yesterday when my friend helped an old man who slipped on ice, knocked him self out,broke his nose and his ribs. Imagine the response time for a major event?

[Skean Dhude]

(12 December 2012, 19:53)SealDriver Wrote: It's not the end of the world, but still yet another example of what can and does happen in our safe and secure world.

We don't live in a safe and secure world. It is just that TPTB want you to think so so that they can keep removing your freedoms.

[Scythe13]

If I remember my school day correctly, hydrogen chloride is used in bleaching paper (following from the info from BDG about being carried with paper).

It could potentially be very bad, poisoning the local canals, and such like.

Wasn't chlorine used as a gas to kill people?

[SealDriver]

(12 December 2012, 21:10)BDG Wrote: The article in the DM says it was carrying hydrochloride - this is a salt that is formed from hydrochloric acid. If I mix hydrochloric acid and the base (alkali) sodium hydroxide, I get NaCl - common salt and water.

The DM does not say which hydrochloride salt it was, but it being transported with paper makes me think it would be something like ethanolamine hydrochloride, used in printing or one of the hydrochloride salts used in paper manufacture.

Whilst they are not something I would sprinkle on my chips, they are not that bad.

If I were TPTB, I would have not widely publicised it in the local area - potential to create a scare where no should exist. I would have also said a salt used in XYZ industry rather than hydrochloride which has got minds jumping to conclusions.

If it had have been a tanker full of Hydrochloric acid and it found its way into the water, water creatures on a very local level would have died and the effect would have been very short lived. if anything, it would clean the water course a little.

Hi BDG,
It took the emergency services the whole day to clear this spill up, they used hoses to put out the fires and the foam/water pushed the spill into the river and canal through the motorway 'interceptors'. This morning there are hi-viz yellow jackets putting in spill catchers and bunds as well as taking a number of samples so finally someone is taking this seriously.

We have a number of chemical producing factories in the area and much of the waste land around here was for many years used for the dumping of chemical waste so people get very pee'd off when they find that yet again we have a spill and that it is in a notourious black spot for motorway accidents.

Call for Erin Brockovic!

Thanks here the info by the way.

[BeardyMan]

(13 December 2012, 13:59)Scythe13 Wrote: Wasn't chlorine used as a gas to kill people?

Yes. I knocked some up before - simple to do with household ingredients. Difficult to explain to your parents why they return home to find you sat outside in the driveway, all the house windows open and the remnants of a green smoke slowly wafting out of the downstairs toilet.